SmartHER: One Year On
For a long time in sport, women have been treated and trained in ways that have been successful for their male counterparts, but might not be optimal for a female athlete, since her physiology is so different to that of a man. Add to this, different equipment needs suited to her anatomy and physical dimensions, and that the psychology of male and female athletes can differ, and we start to see exciting opportunities for improving performance by considering the ‘female’ as well as the ‘athlete’ of the individuals we work with.
A year ago, we used International Women’s Day to officially launch our SmartHER campaign; we want everyone to be smarter about female specific factors such as the menstrual cycle, breast support and pelvic health, and to consider how they use that new understanding in their role supporting athletes, whether as a coach, a nutritionist, strength and conditioning coach or psychologist, for example. We wanted to become smarter by innovating and researching the female athlete in collaboration with world leading academics – there is a notorious void in research done exclusively on females to better understand how their physiology influences training, recovery and competition performance. And we want to be smarter in how we create high performance environments where female athletes can thrive, whether that be through changing culture, perceptions or even facilities.
Our first objective of SmartHER was to educate and empower. In a recent survey, 82% of female athletes said that they had never been taught how their menstrual cycle affected their training, recovery or performance. Yet in the same survey 78% of those athletes said their menstrual cycle affected their training and performance in some way. And coaches and support staff working with these athletes are often men, who to a greater extent than women, have not been taught about the cycle and how its biology links to a woman’s physical and emotional experiences of her world. This stuff is not taught in school, not in coach or sports science training and education. Not, that was until SmartHER arrived!
Our education sessions cover topics like the menstrual cycle, what good menstrual health looks like, how the menstrual cycle can affect performance, learning about hormonal contraception, about breast health and breast support in sport.
What has been so important about these education sessions isn’t just the learning, but simply creating a space where we give people permission to put the stigma aside and talk about whatever they need to, if it’s important for their health, wellbeing or performance as an athlete. That might include things like how to use different period products, managing heavy flow, stress incontinence during high impact exercise, severe period symptoms affecting training or emotional fragility before the period putting strain on the coach-athlete relationship. All of these things can be supported and athletes can be given different strategies to try to alleviate some of the challenges associated with their cycle, but only if we develop the trust, the time and space and the culture where they feel they can discuss it.
The education has also been about re-framing the menstrual cycle. Women’s hormones often get a bad ‘rep’, being associated with the more challenging physical and emotional symptoms of the cycle like pain, fatigue, anxiety or low mood. But those same hormones, when they fluctuate to different levels across the monthly cycle are also responsible for things that are beneficial for an athlete! Take oestrogen, which rises during the first half of the cycle, and had a second peak in the second half of the cycle. Ostrogen influences serotonin, the good mood hormone, and women often experience improved mood, energy levels and motivation at these times of their cycle. Progesterone also influences the brain, and has been related to better sleep quality at times of the cycle when it is high. We have really encouraged our female athletes to get to know what their lived experience of their cycle is, so that they can tap into these positive influences, as well as managing less desirable cycle symptoms.
The important point here is ‘the individuals’ lived experience. Because every women will experience her menstrual cycle differently. Our research has shown that the peaks of hormones at different phases of the cycle can vary significantly between women, meaning that the influence that hormone exerts on an individual with high levels may be different to another women whose peak is not as high. Equally other things like training, diet and lifestyle influence how hormones affect us emotionally and physically. So, whilst we talk to coaches and athletes about a ‘typical cycle’ we also emphasise that everyone’s cycle will be different, and it’s about getting to know what’s normal for you which is important.
We are excited by the road ahead. The education will continue, but new knowledge will be generated through research and new ways of doing things will be possible through innovation. It feels like we’ve come a long way in year, and yet the journey is only just beginning!